


thankful

by Rosyredlipstick



Series: fireworks [7]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M, Meet the Family, Never a dull holiday with the Stolls, Thanksgiving Fic, The Stolls turn into nervous wrecks, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 01:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12806967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosyredlipstick/pseuds/Rosyredlipstick
Summary: “All Delta flights outbound are grounded,” Travis’s hand came up to cover his mouth, his phone dropping to the plush carpet. “Till Saturday, at least.” A small spark of horror clouded in his eyes - the first bit of that emotion that Mitchell had ever seen in the other boy.“That means…” Connor shared in the look of horror, jumping to his feet. Katie, in between the two boys, looked as confused as Mitchell felt.Travis slowly rose to his feet. His gaze was as serious as sin as he surveyed their apartment, Katie and Mitchell still curled on the couch, and met his brother’s eyes. “That means Mom’s coming for Thanksgiving.”-Time to meet Mama Stoll.





	thankful

Mitchell should have known better then to expect a normal holiday with the Stolls. 

_Come to New York for break_ , Connor had said, _we'll destress and eat junk food, it'll be fun_ he said. 

Lies. 

Well, okay, not _all_ of it had been lies. They had destressed, quite actively, for the first few days. Mitchell had flown in on Saturday and had enjoyed the company of his boyfriend quite much. Katie had come in too, so Travis hadn't even been that annoying to him. They laid in bed and talked and watched crappy TV and...and it was really nice. 

And they had a lazy Thanksgiving planned as well, just a few movies and Chinese food. He was enjoying himself, laid out on the couch, curled into Connor's side. 

But then Connor and Travis's phones had both gone off in matching ring tones, a single high bell, and the boys were freezing in horror. 

Mitchell shared a look with Katie, unsure, and rested his hand on Connor's shoulder. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" 

Connor was blinking wordlessly at his phone screen, causing his brother to answer for him. 

“All Delta flights outbound are grounded,” Travis’s hand came up to cover his mouth, his phone dropping to the plush carpet. “Till Saturday, at least.” A small spark of horror clouded in his eyes - the first bit of that emotion that Mitchell had ever seen in the other boy.

“That means…” Connor shared in the look of horror, jumping to his feet. Katie, in between the two boys, looked as confused as Mitchell felt.

Travis slowly rose to his feet. His gaze was as serious as sin as he surveyed their apartment, Katie and Mitchell still curled on the couch, and met his brother’s eyes. “That means Mom’s coming for Thanksgiving.”

And in an instance, the laid-back, easy atmosphere snapped like a rubber band. Both of them jumped to their feet, sharing a single look with each other, and began to pace. 

In their stress, they began tossing back phrases and words like a tennis ball bouncing in between them, their voices rising in high tones. 

“It’s too late to call a caterer -”

“- not even Vinnie’s place will help us out in an hour -” 

“ - not after what we pulled last time, but what about -”

“ - the grocery deli closed at noon -” 

“- not like Mom would be impressed with that -” 

“- but what about -” 

Katie and Mitchell shared a look, a bit wide-eyed, a bit fond, mostly confused. The Stolls got like this - one minded and all - usually only in the face of great stress. Mitchell had only seen it twice, both in the face of battle. Both in the face of great terror. 

“Guys,” Katie stood, her hands on her hips. They both paused abruptly, nearly crashing into each other, and jerked their heads over to look at her. 

She threw her hands up, “Care to explain?” 

They shared a look. 

“Katie,” Connor started slowly, “Mom’s coming for Thanksgiving. She’s leaving from the airport  _ right now.”  _

Travis was nodding, a grave expression on his face. “She’s going to be here in like an hour and a half.”

“Okay,” Katie shrugged, “So we’ll start cleaning. What are you guys freaking out about?” 

The two boys shared an incredulous look before turning back to her. “It’s  _ Mom _ , Katie. She’s coming for Thanksgiving and we don’t even have _ food.”  _

“The Chinese -” 

“We can’t serve Mom Chinese food on Thanksgiving,” Connor was impossibly fond as Mitchell spoke up, but there was still a high stressed note evident in his voice. Mitchell bit his lip. After sharing a quick look with Katie, they both nodded. 

Katie sighed, “Fine, okay, I’ll go along with this. Sure.” She pulled out her phone, a serious look coming over her. “What do you need to me do?” She was already swiping through her apps, already knowing. 

Travis was already tapping away furiously at his phone, frowning. “Katie, can you -” 

“- handle the food?” She was already turning away, her phone pressed to her cheek. “On it, I’m calling my brother.” 

Mitchell blinked, “Your brother? Basil?” 

“Reed,” she called over her shoulder, starting up her quick chatter with her younger brother. That made more sense - Reed was known throughout camp for his cooking skills, best in Demeter. 

Connor was still pacing the length of the apartment, alone now, his hands nearly a blur of frantic movement. “There’s no time to call a cleaning crew, and our usual cleaning service took the holiday off.” Connor ran a hand through his messy curls, looking with wide eyes at the disastrous mess at large. He gestured down to his torso, his eyes wild. “I mean, look at this! Mitchell, do I even _ own  _ a shirt that isn’t covered in stains? Or without holes? Mitchell, _ do I?”  _

Mitchell blinked once again, his eyes fluttering in surprise. He took a quick breath, standing with his arms out in a placating matter. “Okay,” he started, his hands coming up to rest on Connor’s shoulders. The other boy, of course, leaned in a bit desperately to the touch. 

“Okay.” Mitchell repeated, his hands coming up to cup Connor’s cheeks. His thumbs traced invisible soothing patterns into the warm skin there. Connor nuzzled into his palms, his eyes thankfully fluttering into a relaxed shut. 

“So this is what we’re gonna do,” Mitchell began, sharing a quick look with Travis, who only gave him a quick nod as he tapped away rapid fire at his phone. Connor’s wide eyes opened to stare back at him. “We’re not going to be able to call a cleaning service on Thanksgiving day that will be able to be here and get done within the hour.” Connor’s mouth was already open to start shooting off protests, “But -” Mitchell pressed a quick chaste kiss to the other boy, which always worked in cases of interruption. “We can clean perfectly fine.” 

“We...can?” 

“Katie and I can clean perfectly fine,” Mitchell corrected himself with a small smile. “And you and Travis can work your Stoll Magic and pull off a perfect holiday, I know it.”

Connor curled into Mitchell’s warmth for another few indulgent moments, matching his calm breaths. “Okay,” he nodded, a determined look emerging in his eye. “We can do this. Clean. Food. Dinner. Mom. We can do this.” 

“We can do this,” Mitchell agreed, pulling back from the boy. “Now where’s your cleaning supplies?” 

“Our...cleaning supplies?” The look of panic was back, “Wait, Mitchell, we don’t _ have  _ any cleaning supplies.” 

“We don’t need the works, just your daily stuff.” Mitchell cast a quick look around the room. They definitely needed the words but he wasn’t about to say that. He could make do - Gods know he’s done better with worse. 

But Connor was still staring at him in panic, “No, Mitchell, we don’t have any cleaning supplies.” 

That made him pause. “What? Any? What do you guys use to like, wipe down the counters?” 

He just shrugged, “Warm water? And dish soap? That’s what you’re suppose to use, right?” 

“Dish soap is for  _ dishes,” _ he nearly hissed, more than a bit horrified. 

Connor made a frantic motion that did nothing to calm either of their nerves. He sighed. 

“Okay,” Mitchell rubbed at his temples, “Where’s Katie? She’s good at those at-home remedies.” Well, her sister was. Miranda had gotten Valentina hooked on clean living last summer and Mitchell was forced to buy the simple cleaner from the girl unless he wanted to hear an hour rant on harmful chemicals.  

But that question only seemed to cause more tension than relieve it, Mitchell exact opposite want. 

“Katie left!” Travis was nearly shaking with nerves, “She was on the phone with Reed and I turned around and she was gone!” 

“Did you check the hallway?” Mitchell’s voice the picture of perfect patience. 

Listen, Mitchell didn’t have much going for him in this area of Stoll expertise. He didn’t have any rare or remarkable contacts to call, no one who owed him any huge favors (that remained in the state of New York, that is), no real social power he would wield in this instance. 

But he had this - the long earned ability to stay perfectly (mostly) calm in the face of disaster. He had served him extremely well over the years. 

But Travis only nodded frantically, looking no more soothed at his steady voice. “Yes! She - she left! Maybe she was too nervous to meet Mom, or couldn’t get Reed to make the food, and she went home! I mean, who could blame her -” 

“Wait,” Mitchell nearly gasped, hooking onto the beginning of his rant.  _ “Katie  _ hasn’t met your mom yet? Haven’t you been dating for like, three years?” 

Wow, wasn’t that a revelation. Katie fit so perfectly into the Stoll puzzle it was like she’s always been there, in between them both, under Travis’s arm. She got all their inside jokes, finished their stories in a bored voice, knew the exact right places to poke or soothe. She was always so composed and at ease with them both, even at their wildest. 

Mitchell was a bit jealous of that at times, he’d admit it. Especially when more than often he was fumbling in terms of them both, not really sure what to say or how. Connor was so  _ easy _ \- to make laugh or blush, to get him to smile - but Mitchell never really knew what to say to all of them, together, expectant to see who had managed to capture Connor’s attention so completely. 

But the fact he and Katie were on the same playing field at this, that was….interesting. 

Travis was still making panic-stricken movements at Mitchell, who quickly snapped back to attention. 

“It just never happened!” Travis was saying, his hands flailing around in the air, “Mom’s never home during break, and Katie can’t ever made it up during mom’s time off from the airline! This is  _ it!  _ The tipping point, the deciding moment, the climax of the story! The - _ ”  _

“Dear, calm down.”

They all whipped around, Travis the most, mid-monologue, and Mitchell let go of a quickly building up sigh of relief. Mitchell might not match up to her fluency in Stoll, but thanks the gods for Katie Gardner. 

Katie stood in the doorway, numerous plastic bags hanging from her wrists, weighing her down, multi-colored bottles and tubes peeking out from the top. She barely looked frazzled by the events of the afternoon, looking as if she’d simply run out for a quick grocery run. 

She dropped them to floor with a sigh of relief. She shot a look towards her boyfriend, “I texted you to let you know I was running to the store. Your phone call seemed important, I didn’t want to interrupt.” 

“Oh,” Travis stared down wide eyed at the bags. “What is...all this?” 

She and Mitchell shared a look, “Cleaning supplies, hun. I know you only use it for pranks but considering the state of this place -” she gestured to the apartment at whole. There was no need to specify any specific place - it was all a victim of their mess. “We’re gonna need it.” 

“I love you,” Travis breathed out, “please marry me.” 

She pressed a quick peck to the other boy’s cheek. “After I get my master’s, you know this.” 

Connor rushed up to her, his phone clenched in his hand like a lifeline. “The food - did you - what are we gonna do -” 

“Reed’s handling it,” Katie gestured for Mitchell to help her unpack it all - they were the only two who had any idea what to do with the numerous products. Katie, understandably, must have panic bought out the whole shelf. Katie was pulling her hair back, a pair of rubber gloves hanging from her jeans. “We’re gonna be in debt to him forever, and the time restraint is a bit challenging, but he loves cooking shows so he’s probably living for this.” 

Connor took a deep breath, relief obvious in the movement, and swept into the other room. 

Mitchell shot her a concerned look, taking a few of the bottles from her. Already, she had a large garbage bag ready and was collecting a good portion of the room. “Isn’t he busy celebrating?” 

She shook her head, wiping at her face. “Reed’s family doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, mostly they just order in food and watch the parade. Sounded thankful for something to do, but still.” She blew a burst of air into her bangs. “Indebted for  _ life.”  _

“To Reed?” Travis paused in his actions, his phone going off like crazy. He seemed to think about that for a moment before nodding, “That’s fine. Loves dill chips and sparkling water? I’ll put in for an extra shipment.” 

“And also,” she added once Travis rushed away, giving Mitchell an obvious look. “It isn’t  _ horrible  _ to be in good graces with a Stoll.” 

He gave her a small smile, popping open the tub of wipes, and brushed their shoulders. It was good to have her at his side, despite it all. “Gods, wouldn’t we know.” 

* * *

Mitchell was _ more _ than a bit horrified to realize that the Stoll’s carpeting was a  _ completely different color.  _

For as long as he’s been visiting, the living room carpet had been a dull gray. Not very remarkable, and it did match the rest of the furniture. He hadn’t given much of a second thought. 

But, dear gods. 

Their carpet was  _ cream.  _

He was a bit thankful the horrified, disgusted sounds coming out of his mouth were covered mostly by the loud roar of the vacuum.  

“That’s fine for vacuuming,” Katie tapped his shoulder, shoving a bottle of Windex over. “I’ll pack it up, go wipe down the sliding glass door.”

Mitchell nodded in agreement - even from here, across the room, it was obvious that glass hadn’t been cleaned in months, at least. He never knew dust could be so visible. 

He finished it up quickly - the Aphrodite cabin, despite their reputation, was hardly a flawless batch especially in the cleaning department - and began collecting the remaining trash scattered around the room. 

“It’s freezing in here,” Connor was nearly shaking, clutching at his bare arms. “Why are the windows open?” 

“Because you guys are disgusting and it smells like corn chips in here,” Katie was scowling, and even Mitchell had to give a weak nod of agreement. “And we had to air out some of the cleaning chemicals before we all got headaches.” 

Connor considered that. "Fair." 

Katie glanced over to Travis, still frantically speaking on the phone. “What’s he doing?” 

Connor sighed, “I think he’s still trying to book a mariachi to come after dinner. That, or a magician. Depends on who's available.”

“Yeah,” Katie sighed, brushed her hands together. “No. I’ll handle this.” 

“Half an hour left!” He called after her, looking stressed even as he said the words. Mitchell wordlessly began putting away the cleaning supplies in the much too empty cabinet. He and Katie were lucky they had  _ garbage bags.  _

He stood, brushing his hands together, and locked eyes with his still much too panicking boyfriend. 

Mitchell walked over, circling Connor’s nervous hands in his own, and peered up at the other boy. 

“You have to get ready,” 

Connor blinked at him, “There’s still too much to do and - “

“You need to get ready,” Mitchell only restated, “so you look nice for your mother.” 

“I - I don’t have anything nice to wear!” Connor was sputtering, “We have to run to Macy’s, or rent a suit or even, I don’t know, Target! I need to just run out real quick -” 

“Sweetheart,” Mitchell kept his voice at a low, soft tone, leading the other boy into Connor’s room by his hand. At the foot of his bed was Mitchell’s duffel for the week, already a mess of fabric and trash. After lightly pushing Connor in the direction of his bed, he began rifling through it. 

“Wear those jeans Sebastian got you for your birthday,” Mitchell instructed, shifting through his bag. The jeans should have been decently clean - Connor mostly prefered to wear soft sweatpants or shorts around the house.

He made a noise of victory as he pulled out the piece of fabric from the bottom of his duffel. Ah, just what he was looking for. He held out the soft burgundy sweater, thankful he had brought along the loose enough piece of clothing. It would be a perfect fit for Connor’s wide shoulders. 

Mitchell stood, turning to face the other boy at his seat on the bed, and held the sweater out. Connor, predictably, bypassed the sweater entirely and only pulled the other boy closer to him. 

Mitchell went easily, the sweater laid out on the bed carefully, and leaned into his touch. 

“I know I’m freaking out,” Connor pushed his head into Mitchell chest, taking a deep breath. “I just...my mom’s amazing but she’s  _ so _ hard to impress. She’s seen  _ everything. _ And I haven’t really seen her for two months or so - the airline takes her for so long sometimes - and I just. I don’t want her to be disappointed. In me.” 

Mitchell made a sympathetic noise, tracing his fingernails up and down Connor’s back. He arched into Mitchell’s touch, and Mitchell had to suppress a smile. 

“Come on,” Mitchell pulled up the other boy, “we’ll check on how everything’s going then we’ll change. Good?” 

Connor nodded, leaning into Mitchell’s touch, and followed him out into the living room. 

Where Katie and Travis were bickering. Great. 

Connor went tense at this side - he was never good when Katie and Travis fought - and Mitchell took a step forward. 

“Guys,” he interrupted their rough tones, a glare in place. They both turned on him, fire in their eyes. “Guys,” he tried again, his tone a bit weary. “What’s going on?” 

Travis ran a hand through his hair, breaking his stance a bit. “Katie hasn’t been able to get ahold of Reed since she first spoke to him.” 

“And  _ Travis  _ -” her tone was flippant, a bit annoyed. “Thinks that means Reed bailed or something, and now wants to run out somewhere and, I don’t know, purchase a home cooked Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving.” She crossed her arms, “He’s a bit busy to pick up the phone, you know. He’s coming.” 

“You don’t know that -” 

“ - actually, I do and can’t you just -”

“- we have less than  _ half an hour  _ -”

“  _ \- trust me  _ for once? I mean, seriously -” 

“Guys,” Connor buried his face in his hands, “Now is _ not  _ the time for this.” 

Travis threw his hands in the air, “When else are we going to -” 

The boy cut himself off mid word, pausing. 

There was a knock on the door that had them all freezing in place, slowly turning to stare at the door. 

“That has to be Reed,” Katie breathed out, “Right?” 

Connor somehow managed a shaky nod, “Mom - she wouldn’t knock.” 

Mitchell, as the others seemed frozen in place, took a quick breath before walking over and opening the door. 

“Reed,” Mitchell breathed out in relief, “it’s so nice to see you.” 

The boy only grinned widely, balancing numerous aluminum trays. “I come bearing gifts.” 

The boys were already there, each muttering out stressed sounding thanks, taking the pans from Reed’s arms. Surprisingly, Reed had managed a lot it seemed - several steaming trays of 

“You’re lucky I work with an industrial kitchen,” He grinned, “and I always have a fully stocked pantry.” 

“You’re a lifesaver, Reed.” Katie told him, pulling her brother into a quick tight hug before joining the brothers at the kitchen table. 

“This is great,” Mitchell gave him a thankful smile, “if it’s anything like the stuff you make at camp, it’s going to be delicious. Thanks for getting it to us, it means a lot.” 

“For the Stolls?” Reed raised an eyebrow, grinning. “I would have done more than just a meal to get a favor from them.” 

Mitchell gave the boy an amused look, keeping a careful eye as the others began unloading the food. “Oh?” 

“I’ve been wanting a separate greenhouse for my cooking vegetables and herbs,” He shot a look towards the boys unlocking his pans, “Think they can manage it this summer?” 

Mitchell let go of the breath, “I’m pretty sure they’d build you a mansion at this point, so yeah.” 

Reed beamed at him, nodding happily. “Awesome! Well, have a good meal!” 

Mitchell waved him off, locking the door after him so they wouldn’t be at the risk of an unexpected walk-in, and went over to help. 

“Reed managed a few dishes,” Connor was spooning the food into dishes as she spoke, still handing over aluminium pans. “Some pasta, sauteed veggies, mac and cheese, some others.” 

“Turkey?” Travis’s hands were a mess folded together. 

Katie shook her head, “There was no way he could pull off a turkey in an hour -” 

“What are we going to do?” Mitchell had never seen the other boy so stressed. “Thanksgiving - it’s turkey and mashed potatoes and, uh, like other stuff!” 

“We got this,” Katie was reassuring him, rubbing her hand up and down his back. Both Stoll boys had a tendency towards physical reassurance, then. “She’ll love whatever we have.” 

“We’re nearly done,” Mitchell added, “you guys just need to change out of your messy clothes and we’ll be -” 

They all froze as the door suddenly unlocked, only taking a single beat of moment to fully swing open. Travis and Connor each stared ahead with wide eyes, clenched fists, and dirty clothes. Mitchell took a last, calming deep breath. 

They were out of time. 

Diana Stoll was home. 

**Author's Note:**

> YEET! last minute holiday fic to avoid family!! yes!! also i havent written a real conchell fic in 5eva and it was killing me. next chapter up soon!!  
> happy thanksgiving! fuck christopher columbus!  
> also listen they love their mother and their mother adores them bUT the boys are such nerds in their attempts to impress her and she totally knows it. i love diana stoll with my whole heart ok ok.  
> sorry if there's any obvious huge mistakes i wrote most of this in 2 hours hiding in the backroom of my grandmas woot  
> follow me on tumblr at rosyredlipstick.tumblr.com for 2 am rants and drabbles about my ocs


End file.
